About 15,000 tomato growers of Madanapalle revenue division, considered the largest tomato belt in Asia, are pinning their hopes on the yields in summer, expecting good fortunes, which they had missed for the last two years owing to COVID pandemic.
At present, the tomato is raised in about 6,000 hectares, with a one-month delay in transplantation procedure. While several parts of the country see the closure of their crop patterns in summer, Madanapalle holds the monopoly of bumper yields, thanks to the congenial climate which never scales beyond 30 degrees Celsius all around the year.
On Saturday, the arrival of stocks at the Tomato market yard at Madanapalle was less than 200 tonnes, though the price was between ₹7 and ₹9 per kg for the first quality, followed by ₹6.40 a kg for the second grade.
